Lots Lined up for Christmas!

So I may have went a little overboard during the Black Friday-week sales. I picked up nothing but Warhammer 40,000 titles:

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, a capital ship combat RTS

Eternal Crusade, a multiplayer 3rd person shooter

Dawn of War II, a ground-based RTS

Space Hulk: Deathwing, a co-op 3rd person shooter.

So this means I’ll have a lot of Warhammer 40k games to chew through this holiday season. What better way to celebrate than to launch into all-out war! I’ll be playing Warhammer 40k games all December long! At least one game during every livestream, and putting the best highlights up on YouTube and Twitch. The goal is to have a new video each day, but I really don’t want to just throw something up there for sake of having something to release.

And there’s more…

What To Expect

There will be special Twitch chat !commands and Christmas decorations across all my channels! Be sure to visit them all!

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is smaller scale ship combat, as far as numbers. There won’t be massive armies clashing mindlessly in space. The graphics are nothing short of AMAZING.

Eternal Crusade is currently match-based. In the future it will be like Planetside 2, a persistent world where each faction vies for control over resources, outposts, and territory.

Dawn of War II is just like Company of Heroes 2. I can’t be more excited about that! The field of view is adjustable! Can’t wait to get back into this kind of RTS!

Space Hulk: Deathwing is a horde-mode type game where you group up with 3 others and try and survive searching ancient ships for relics. It’s PvE based, but seems like it could be cool. Releases December 9th!

And, as the title implies, I’ll be playing the Space Marines in every game! The Ultramarines chapter specifically, as available.

If you’re interested in any of these titles, don’t forget the Steam winter sale and likely others are still ahead! Watch this space for deals from across the interwebs! Using the links below helps support me! Trying to earn enough to do a giveaway!

Who to Expect

I pretty much e-stalked everyone I could find with these games, and some have all tentatively agreed to join me this month! Firm dates coming soon(TM).

Lionheart will be playing Dawn of War II and Battlefleet Gothic: Armada! 12/10/2016

Moosey will be playing Dawn of War II!

Overkill will be playing Battlefleet Gothic: Armada and Dawn of War II! 12/11/2016

Some were not able to commit just yet, so hopefully there will be more. If you’re a content creator and want to join in, feel free to contact me! Viewers are always welcome, so drop by and join in a game or just say hello to everyone!

Keep The Holiday Merry and Bright

Please be safe this holiday season. Visit lots of friends and/or family, and do something a little extra nice as often as you can. This is personally my favorite time of the year, and I hope to see you all during every stream, in the comments of every video, and spamming my Twitter notifications all month long! Merry Christmas to you all, and God bless!

Proven Progression System Mixed With New Gameplay

The popular World of VEHICLE progression system has proven a tried and true method so far. Players are familiar with it, and it seems to be easy to pick up and run with. I like it, at any rate. I am also a fan of third-person melee combat systems, thanks to For Honor. The combat has also been compared to that of Mount & Blade fame. When you mesh these two halves together, you have a game. That game is Tiger Knight: Empire War! Medieval combat in ancient China, circa 220-280 AD. China is simply the first culture in the game, two more are already in the works!

General Information

Tiger Knight: Empire War is a free to play game that follows the popular style of match-based combat. You can queue up alone, or with friends, to participate in PvP or PvE gameplay. While there is a general player-only battle mode, what makes Tiger Knight stand out is it’s ‘Command Mode’ PvP. You get a unit of troops to take with you into battle! These are what you use the familiar tier system to rank up. The higher the tier, the more troops in your unit. The AI is surprisingly good too. Along with straightforward deathmatch gameplay, there are also Siege maps in Command Mode which give you the thrill of assaulting an enemy fortress! There is a good variety of maps and modes for PvP. PvE is a little more limited, but offers a whole new experience. The last bit of information worth mentioning is the presence of mounts in the game. You can charge, and fight, from horseback! It’s amazing! (Inside joke) Your troops can be mounted as well. The Rome update will add the Roman culture in December 2016 or January 2017. Tiger Knight has already began asking its players which faction they want to see next! Example options were Parthian Empire, Kushan Empire, and more.

What Makes It Fun

The siege maps in Command Mode feel unique, and extremely fun. Generally I hate these types of maps (Strand of the Ancients in WoW, Voidstar in SWTOR), but Tiger Knight has done something different. There is no timer, which reduces your frustration, and lets you focus more on having fun. Tiger Knight follows a very familiar framework: Third-person view, XP unlocks new upgrades (troops, weapons), but one of its key features is what I’ll call the hit system. Which armor you wear, and where you wear it, matters. A superb breakdown of where you were hit, and how often, is given at the end of every match. This lets you plan where you can afford to wear heavier armor, and where you can probably sacrifice armor for less weight. The weapon side of the hit system involves the pointy end of weapons, namely making the pointy parts deal more damage. If you hit someone with the spear tip, you may do 50 damage. Meanwhile if you hit them past the sharpened steel portion, you may only do 15 or 20. It makes your positioning weapon dependent, and very important. On the perhaps most important note, the game is F2P friendly. The price per-month to maintain a premium account is less than $10. The amount of boosted XP you get is also reduced as well, meaning paying players won’t have as big a lead on free players.

What Makes It…Not

As I mentioned, positioning is important. This makes low latency all the more crucial. Recently the moved the game servers to the west coast of the US, which has almost doubled my ping. I can definitely tell the difference. People on the west coast are reporting better latency, however, so where you live may greatly determine how much this affects you. Additionally, not all of the translations are the best. The developer is based in China. Most of the time, you can easily understand the idea. Occasionally though, it is a little confusing, and takes some extra effort to figure something out. More often, it’s just plain funny. Still, they have promised to improve their translations in time.

The Bottom Line

As it stands, this is one of the best titles for people who can’t afford to put much, if any, money into a game. Tiger Knight: Empire War has just recently launched in Early Access. The balance on weapons seems pretty good, and is still ongoing. The devs seem active on social media, and are unequivocally fair in their treatment of players. They’ve passed out many a premium time pass for downtime, which is extremely generous considering it’s an early release title. I’m eagerly looking forward to the Rome update, as well as to see which empire will be added next.

First Time Player’s Guide To Visiting Mercia

As usual the inspiration for this guide comes from my own experience. I’ve seen people in game asking what to do when they first play. Having died a few times now, and starting over completely each time, I have a good handle on this subject. I’m getting good at starting over. And lucky! It all comes down to the basics: Food, water, and shelter. I’ve got a bit of advice to share on how to tackle each of these problems.

Food & Water

In Mercia, you burning a lot of calories. You’ve got to keep your hunger and thirst in check at all times. Constantly foraging for berries (Strawberries, Raspberries, etc) is a priority. Killing animals will get you some raw meat. Make sure you find a camp fire to cook any raw food first! Additionally, keep an eye out for wells. This is (obviously) a good source for water. You can also sometimes forage water from rivers, streams, and even mud puddles. Although it may not be drinkable, if you do forage up dirty water, camp fires are your friend. You can boil it and make it safe to drink, or even sell. The smaller berries you forage up in the wilderness can help with thirst too.

See What’s Out There

Mercia is a pretty big world so far. While wherever you spawn when you first enter the game may be convenient, you really could be missing out. The Black Death has some incredible visuals, and equally incredible settings. Some of these places can have some start differences. For example, there is a port city just west of the capital that looks breathtaking. Freeman’s Port is probably where i’d most like to live. Additionally, there are several keeps (Crutchley) and citadels (Farleigh) that look awesome as well, and offer different experiences. So wherever you start at, at least check the surrounding provinces before you decide settle down somewhere. Even if you die, you really haven’t lost much. It’s might even be worth it just to see where you might spawn next!

Making Gold

Once you’ve got yourself full, it’s time to start earning gold. You need to buy a house, tools of the trade, food, cures, and so on. Gold makes the world go ’round, even in Mercia. There are a few different ways you can earn gold in The Black Death, no matter what class you are. First off is foraging. Selling all the cotton or berries that you gather. Anything ‘Awful’ that you gather is a good candidate to vendor. It’s harder to craft with, and makes lower quality items even if successful. Speaking of crafting, each class can craft specific things. For example, Knights can craft a crude shield from wood. These shields sell for ~40 gold a pop. Three shields, and you’ve got enough for a home! Find whatever it is that your class can craft, and start churning those out to sell to vendors. Finally, you can scavenge. There are loads of crates and barrels in every city, town, and campsite. Sometimes there are weapons, food, or even gold! Get in the habit of checking these. I would caution about doing so around homes that are owned by players. While they are out in the world and essentially ‘open season’, you may want to consider avoiding doing so. I’ll explain why in a little bit.

Shelter

Finding a home is very important in The Black Death. Houses are passed to your characters through death, so this is how you start building wealth. The cheapest home you can buy is a little 120 gold shack. These are scattered on the outskirts of every town and city. You’ll want to do a little shopping too, and not necessarily buy the first one you come across that’s available. If you’re a peasant, for example, you’ll want one with a little garden you can plant in. If you’re a Militia or Knight, maybe a campfire would be preferred. The most important thing to look for, no matter what class you are, is storage. Not all homes have a storage box. No storage, no buy!

Be Friendly

I mentioned earlier about not scavenging around player-owned homes. You should show a little courtesy to other players, especially as a new player. I’ve been the recipient of loads of generosity from established players. I’ve been given THOUSANDS of gold, weapons, food, and little tips and trick that would have taken me a long time to learn otherwise. I even bought someone a house on my first day playing the game. The community in the game right now is just incredibly positive. Yes, there are griefers, but this is the internet and you can’t avoid them. The good people have far outweighed the bad though, and the more steps we take to promote a good atmosphere, the better chance we have of keeping it that way.

Best Game Prices For Black Friday and Cyber Monday Week Sales 2016

This is one of the best times of the year to get that game you’ve always had your eye on, but don’t want to shell out the asking price for. Now there are a lot of deals on a lot of different websites out there, so my goal is to keep it simple. I’ll be posting links to various websites and outlining their deals. Some of the links will be affiliate links, meaning I get a portion of the sale. Thanks in advance for your support!

Taking The Medieval Survival Genre For A Spin

The Black Death is a survival game that takes place in a fictional Europe, during the time of the Black Plague. There’s no magic or elves, it’s a medieval simulation almost. As I mentioned not long ago on my channel update and Black Friday shopping list, I’ve wanted to try the Black Death for some time now. Thanks to a random tweet I made on Twitter, Small Impact Games(The game’s developers, AKA SIG) made it happen! What caught my eye, and prompted that tweet, was the Knights and Outlaws update, specifically the knight. Progression on the knight was dependent on doing good for the realm. So given my love for ARK, medieval settings, and getting to play the good guys, here we are. Special thanks to SIG Emily for getting me a key, and another to give away on Black Friday!

Plans For The Week

During this week I’ll be live on Twitch Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. If you want to join, just let me know. I hate playing alone. Evenings on Monday and Tuesday, afternoon on Friday.

I’ll be posting a Let’s Play series to YouTube in case you my first stream. It covers a lot of what to do when you first get in game, establishing yourself, and exploring a good portion of Mercia.

Finally I’ll be posting some #PlagueMoments screenshots on Twitter. I’d love to see yours, so let me know if you tweet one! The game has some really incredible visuals to share.

So please, stop on by and check it out. Come ask any questions, join me in game, or even in spirit with likes and retweets. The game has been adding tons of updates lately, so if you’re a fan of survival games, or medieval settings, come see what The Black Death has to offer!